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galaticfaery · 4 years

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Red Carnation Chapter 1: Snow Globes and Houses

I was 17 years old when my parents told me that my dad had basically struck gold at work. Rather, he was getting a new job, a much better job with much better pay and benefits. I love my family and so I was excited for him, until the day after I graduated from my Junior year I was told I would not be finishing my school year out at my high school. No. Instead my parents decided to pack us up and move us to California to attend a new private high school to complete my senior year.

How great!

If you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm. I had spent all 17 years of my life in Florida. I loved it here despite the humidity and the storms. I loved my friends and my school, and I was more than excited to get to graduate with them. My parents ripped that all up as they started packing up box after box into our minivan with exciting plans for the California Coast. New money ruined everything.

Now here I was. Sitting in the backseat of the car, looking out the window, and dreading what the year would bring for me.

In the front seat my parents were talking happily, no doubt about our brand new two story house with a pool and a wrap around deck and beautiful trees. I had already heard all about our new house and seen pictures. My parents had even had custom designers come in and design the whole house, so all we were taking with us were our personal items and clothes. I had slept in the same bed for 10 years and now I was expected to sleep in a brand new bed, in a brand new room, in a completely brand new state.

In the backseat I was pouting like I had been for the last three months. Instead of my usual bright colored clothing I was wearing loose sweats and a black hoodie that was tossed over my already tussled brunette hair with headphones in my ears so I could hear anything my parents were saying. I was tired of hearing about how exciting this whole situation were. If I didn't know better I would assume that my parents were royalty the way they were talking. Mom was joining a country club, and Dad had been invited to play golf with his boss. We might as well be royalty. Except for me of course.

I looked out the window just to see the ocean below us as our minivan was driving next to cliffs looking down. The California ocean was nowhere close to the warm waters of Florida. The waves didn't compare. Even the air smelled different. My mom kept telling me that Florida and California were not so distant in environment, but for me I felt like I was on an alien planet. A planet in which I didn't know anyone. "Here we are!" My dad screeched excitedly as we started on a bit of a rocky driveway leading up to our new house. I was able to hear him over the headphones which meant he was talking rather loudly. I begrudgingly removed my headphones and looked to the front of the car as our house came into view.

I wouldn't deny that it was quite a beautiful house. It looked rather old but new at the same time. It looked like the perfect white picket fence home. As we got closer I could start to make out certain details, like the tire swing hanging from a tree branch. It must have been there awhile because the rope was started to make a dent in the tree branch, but it looked strong enough to hold it. I could also see the wrap around porch and white painted railing that went around the entire house. It definitely looked a lot richer than our smaller townhouse that we lived in back in Florida. Still, it wasn't my home. I closed my eyes and tried to breath, feeling panic creep up as we got closer and closer to the home.

"Isn't it just gorgeous?" My mom finally chimed in as she looked in the backseat right at me. I was currently giving my parents the silent treatment so I just sat back in my seat and put one of my headphones back into my right ear. I crossed my arms and ignored her question. I wasn't going to answer.

The car finally came to a stop after a minute and when I looked out we were right in front of the porch. I could see the beautiful designed black french double doors that were decorated in twisted designs. I could even tell that the glass was frosted over and had the same swirling designs as the trim of the door had. They certainly were in another world. "Okay guys. Let's start getting boxes unpacked. Carter, your room is on the second floor. You have the whole second floor to yourself. Isn't that fun?" "Whatever." I groaned as I got out of the backseat of the car. My legs were rather thankful for the chance to stretch and get some exercise. I had been sitting in the car for nearly 10 hours. I felt like I was stepping foot on a foreign planet, one in which I didn't belong. It was far too warm to be wearing a hoodie, but he was wearing it as an act of protest to this whole thing, along with giving his parents the silent treatment.

I pulled the earbuds out and pulled out my phone. I wrapped the wire around my phone and shoved it back into the front pocket of my hoodie while my parents were already in the trunk grabbing boxes. I was still looking around the grounds trying to decide if I should help or if I should run. My brain opted to run, but my feet instead carried me to the back of the car and I grabbed a box. I didn't want to go into the house. I wanted nothing to do with the move. For all intents and purposes I should just let my parents carry all of my things to my room and then unpack it themselves, but I did have precious cargo I didn't want anyone but me handling.

Stepping into the house for the first time reminded me that the life that I used to have no longer existed. Seeing the large crystal chandelier and big stairs that lead up onto the second floor it made my heart drop into my stomach. If I wasn't holding onto a box with special items I would have dropped straight to the floor. Instead, I held back the tears and headed upstairs to find where my bedroom was.

It took me awhile to find the bedroom, since there were a lot of rooms upstairs. He didn't understand why his parents got such a big house when it was only the three of them. Most of the rooms were basically closets and of course I found the bathroom pretty easily. My room was at the very end of the hall. I could feel my nerves immediately go on edge as soon as I set my hand on the doorknob and turned it to open the door. I didn't want to be here, but what more could I do to avoid it? I closed my eyes and stepped over the threshold quietly before opening my eyes to greet what would be my new home away from home.

It was big. This room was a lot bigger than the room I used to have. The bed was unnecessarily large for just me. It was a king sized mattress with a beautifully intricate wood headboard. My parents had already picked out a new bedding. It was a teal green that faded into a blue, it reminded me of the ocean back home. My room was also equipped with a laptop on the bedside table that matched the wood of my headboard and a wood desk that also matched with a comfortable looking computer chair. The walls were painted with the same teal green color as my blankets. I felt like I was surrounded by sea water. I set the box on my bed and then fell backwards onto it. It must have been a foam mattress cause I sank into it rather quickly. Despite my trepidation it was a comfortable room.

"Honey! Hurry up and start unpacking... dinner will be here soon." I heard my mom calling from downstairs. I ignored her words and just continued to look up to the ceiling. The light fixtures were embedded in the walls, and from the look of the dial on my wall they dimmed. If I wasn't so upset about the move this would have been my dream room.

After a couple of minutes I finally got up from my bed and walked over to my window. It was a large window but it was covered in a dark blue curtain. I hesitated as I pulled back the curtain and looked outside. The first sight I saw was the pool in the back. At least I would be able to swim even if it wasn't in the ocean. They lived a good 20 minutes away from any ocean, and I was dedicated to never ever stepping foot in the California waters. I sighed and finally let the curtain fall back into place, blocking out the light, and went downstairs to finish carrying the rest of my boxes up to my room.

An hour passed by in the blink of an eye. We had finally finished taking the rest of the boxes inside, they had more boxes that would be delivered the next day. I was carefully unpacking my boxes. Most of them were filled with stuffed animals, clothes, and my favorite thing in the whole wide world... snow globes. It seemed like a childish thing to hang onto, but I loved them. I loved watching as the fake snow would fall down. I had winter ones with fake snow, spring ones that replaced the snow with flowers, and fall ones that replaced the snow with tiny leaves. His entire life he really only experienced summer, so he liked having globes that taught him about the other seasons. I was carefully unpacking the last snow globe of mine... my favorite snow globe. Instead of a snowman or a tree or something it was a butterfly, and the snow was replaced with gold and silver glitter. It was the most expensive and most precious globe I had. I carefully placed it on a shelf in my room and ran my fingers over the glass as the glitter rained down and covered the butterfly and the ground.

"Honey, can you come downstairs please. We have a gift for you!" I heard my mother call me once again. He assumed that it was just dinner that had finally gotten there. Because of the hustle and bustle of unpacking they just ordered pizza. I closed my eyes and breathed in softly before finally leaving my room. I closed my door quietly and shoved my hands into the pocket of my hoodie before walking downstairs, but I stopped walking immediately, in the middle of the staircase, when I saw what my parents were holding. "Isn't it so cute. It's your new uniform for school... it just arrived." My mother smiled as she held it out to me.

I had almost forgotten that all of this also came with a new school. A new expensive private school that required I wear a uniform. I thought about just going back upstairs to my room and slamming the door. The anger of having to move filled me up again and I remembered that I was not supposed to be enjoying the house. However, my feet wouldn't move, neither upstairs or downstairs. Instead I just stood there staring carefully at the uniform. I wanted to cry.

Instead of having to move, my father grabbed the uniform and walked up the stairs to meet me. He held out the uniform to me but I didn't take it. "I know this is a lot son, but this is best for all of this. This school is a really good school and it will help you get into college. Just try to accept it." He pulled my hand out from my hoodie and placed the uniform into my shaking hands. He gave me a sad smile as he walked back down the stairs and wrapped his arm around my mother's shoulders. It was times like this that I wish I could run, that I wish I could cry, but I couldn't do anything. So instead I just wrapped my fingers around the cloth tightly and nodded my head, but it wasn't sincere. It was now that I realized...

I would never belong anywhere ever again.

#Boys love #Romance #Novel #Chapter 1 #Drama #gayromance #Gaypride #gay boys

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